Bulldogs Take Seventh at Heptagonals

Jeff Perrella. (photo by Greg Carroccio of Sideline Photos, LLC)

Oct 29, 2010

Perrella Finishes in Top 10

BRONX, N.Y. – The Bulldogs placed seventh with 149 points at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Friday. Although head coach Dan Ireland said the team could have put on a better race, the Bulldogs are already looking ahead to finish the rest of their season on a strong note.

"It happens – we had an off day we didn't expect," Ireland said.

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs had several strong individual performances, including senior Jeff Perrella, who ran a huge PR of 24:44 to cross the line first for the Bulldogs to place ninth overall. Senior captain Max Walden also had a strong race and was the Bulldogs' second runner in 26th place (25:14.8), followed by junior Julian Sheinbaum in 35th place (25:27.7). Junior Conor Dooney, who had been suffering from an injury in the last two weeks, still pulled through to place 40th in 25:37.1. Sophomore Demetri Goutos came in next in 45th place (25:40.8) followed by sophomore Sam Kirtner in 51st place (25:47.8) and junior Nathan Richards in 60th place (25:58.8) to round out the Bulldogs' top seven.

All-American Donn Cabral defeated last year's winner, Dan Chenoweth of Harvard, and led the nationally ranked Princeton squad to win the team title with 33 points. Dartmouth took second, while defending team champion Columbia took third.

While the Bulldogs feel like they could have placed higher at Heptagonals, they are already gearing up for their last appearance as a team at their next meet.

"We always want to finish on a positive note and get ready for next year," Ireland said.

The Bulldogs will get that chance as they co-host at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships with Fairfield on Nov. 13 at Madison, Conn. The Bulldogs have been ranked in the top eight in the region all season and have the potential to put on another strong showing at the regional level. The meet will also determine who qualifies for NCAA National Championships on Nov. 22.